


Fishy Business and Catty Distractions

by HoshiYuki



Category: Twisted-Wonderland (Video Game)
Genre: Character Study, F/M, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Second Person, Reader-Insert, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-03
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:33:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23461774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HoshiYuki/pseuds/HoshiYuki
Summary: Under normal circumstances, you couldn’t care less if the Octavinelle dorm leader was scheming something again. You’d long since learned that, if you just stayed away from the sea dorm, their dealings would not impact your school life. All was well, until the day the ramshackle dorm’s magicless leader started asking Leona to keep and eye on the other dorm. The same Leona who just so happened to be your dorm leader and also happened to have heard you're really good at shadowing people.Choosing Floyd as your first target to shadow, however, may not have been the best of actions. It doesn’t take long for him to pick you up on his radar and you’re slowly dragged down into a sea of plots and insanity. It suddenly became very hard not to get involved with the sea dorm.
Relationships: Floyd Leech/Reader
Comments: 18
Kudos: 163





	1. An Eely Cat and a Catty Eel

**Author's Note:**

> So, playing the Twisted Wonderland game gave me some plot ideas.  
> Originally I intended this to be a one shot, but... Let's see where this plot will drift off to.  
> This work may need updating later as the official story is only at the start of the third chapter (the chapter for the Octavinelle dorm).
> 
> Reader is not the Ramshackle dorm leader, but a magic student. Gender is currently unspecified.
> 
> \----
> 
> Chapter One Summary:
> 
> How could one stealth mission go so wrong. You’re good at stealth. Finding out what Octavinelle’s dorm was planning should have been easy. Not like this, whatever this was. Silver lining - maybe you could find out what Floyd was doing alone in this empty hallway. Now let’s hope he won’t kill you.

You racked your mind trying to figure out where it all went so wrong. Your target couldn’t have known you had been following him. And yet, he somehow had managed to lure you into a dark corner of an empty and dark hallway, underneath a staircase, before calling out to you. You had been using your magic for hours and frankly, your reserves were running low. There was hardly any chance you’d be able to flee the long corridor without attracting attention to yourself. On the other hand, there was a very good chance you’d regret it if you showed yourself.

_Shit._

What had gone wrong? Your morning flashed by in front of your eyes. Your dorm leader Leone calling you to his rooms to tell you Octavinelle was probably scheming something again. The request to tail the Octavinelle dorm’s leader and seconds in command. You deciding to shadow Octavinelle’s Floyd on a whim when you saw him skulking down the hallways alone in uncharacteristically low spirits, thinking he’d make a good target if he wasn’t focussed. Seeing people clear the path for him as he passed them through the halls, not reacting to their fear. All the while, there had been no indication he’d known you were there. And now you were driven into a dark corner of the Night Raven College Castle.

“Come out now, little fangtooth. Show me you’ve got some bite. I know you’re out there.”

That sing song voice. You couldn’t properly see Floyd’s face from your current position, but the voice betrayed his mood. Overall playful, but the last words laced with annoyance.

Playful Floyd was dangerous.

Annoyed Floyd was deadly.

Or so the rumors went. You didn't want to find out if the rumors were true.

As if the higher powers wanted to fuck you over with the worst timing possible, your head started pounding. Your vision started blurring. Your magic was at its limit.

Blinking your eyes rapidly you saw the blurry outline of Floyd slowly turning his head to the right, directly looking towards your hiding spot.

 _No! Just a little longer. Don’t break._ A sweatdrop slid down from your temple, tracing a path over the side of your face before it ended up at your chin. _Nothing to see here._ The pressure in your head was building. _Just a little longer._ Whatever the cost, you needed to keep your unique magic hidden. _Look away. Look away._

When Floyd’s head turned to the left again you released your magic. In that one second you felt your form move out from the shadows, out from the wall, taking solid shape again. Only now you let go of the breath you’d been holding, the sound immediately catching the man’s attention.

“There you are!” Floyd turned around to fully face you, as you leaned backwards sorely in need of the wall’s support. Even through your fatigue, you noticed his face falling at the sight of you. “What’s a little catfish doing all the way here?”

You felt a growl forcing its way out at his implication. From a fangtooth to a catfish. The nerve. You were a proud panther, damnit. Instead of letting your Savanaclaw pride get the best of you, you force out “I can ask the same of you. No Azul or Jade. What has the world come to?”

In retrospect, that jab might not have been your best idea.

Floyd grins, displaying two full rows of pointy teeth. “Jade always says that good things come to those who wait. But that’s so boring. Totally boring.” His grin grew. “So I acted.” The grin fell and Floyd took a few steps towards you, invading your private space, bringing the smell of sea salt with him. His tall frame forced him to bend over slightly to bring his face a wand’s distance away from yours. “And look at what I caught.”

“I wouldn’t say you ‘caught’ me quite yet,” you retorted. Without breaking eye contact, you forced energy and tension into your muscles, preparing to dart away at the drop of a hat.

“Ooh?” The playfulness in his tone went up as his golden eye shone with a dull light.

You felt your body give the equivalent reaction of an ‘oh shit’ before it reflexively ducked away from the tall man and sprinted to the other side of the hallway. When you turned back, Floyd was still bent over the spot where you had been. His arms now against the wall, giving you the impression he had tried to cage in the ghost of your five-second-ago self. His fedora lay on the ground at his feet, probably having fallen from either your or his sudden movement. He spun around with near inhuman speed.

“Ahahaha~ So you want to play!” His tone matched his face as they radiated excitement. “Then let’s play!” He crouched slightly as if to pounce, only to suddenly straighten his posture and heave a sigh. “Aaaah, but Azul said I should keep a low profile today.”

This sounded like information to convey to Leona. Pushing your luck, you moved your head so you caught his eyes. “Why?”

“I’m not supposed to say,” he responds without missing a beat. “You want to know?”

“Kinda.” You scratched behind your right ear, a little nervous habit you picked up in your first year here at college. The lopsided grin was back on his face, telling you all you needed to know. _It was worth a try._

“Why not ask him? He might tell you.”

“Yeah, for the right price. Thanks but no thanks.” You cocked your head to the left, sizing up the now unmoving man. He didn’t seem to mind your response. No, he didn’t even seem to care if you were or weren’t interested in Azul’s services. Curious. The Leech twins were known for sniffing out victims willing to sign a contract with Azul, suggesting great wins for the unfortunate souls foolish enough to buy into a game that is rigged from the get-go. You’ve heard the stories. But rather than driven to get you to meet with Azul, Floyd looked more put off by the fact that he couldn’t play with you today.

Maybe he wasn’t just a flunky to the crafty Octavinelle dorm head.

Belatedly you realize you’ve never really spoken to Floyd - or his brother Jade for that matter - in the close to two years you’ve been at Night Raven College. Sure, you’ve seen him at big events, usually in the company of Jade, Azul or both. You’ve seen him in some of your classes where he would be a genius one day, only to get scolded for low effort the next. You’ve heard the stories related to his work for Azul resulting in quite a fearsome reputation. But you’ve never truly spoken to the guy directly.

You let your eyes glide over his frame. The black suit he’s wearing looked quite stylish, especially with the silken scarf accentuating the garment, though the wrinkles and the untied white bowtie suggested he didn’t care about appearances all that much. The lavender shirt he wore, complementing the dresscoat’s purple lining, was unbuttoned at the top, yet neatly tucked into the slightly too short pants. His purple socks were clearly visible between the too short hem and the black tipped white dress shoes. His fedora, black with a grey ribbon adorned with a purple seashell, still lay at his feet.

You brought your gaze back up to his face and were met with his heterochromatic gold and olive eyes staring right back at you. He must have been studying you just as you’ve been studying him. There was something in his gaze that struck your primal core, a hard to pinpoint feeling bubbling up. A hunter being hunted. A young mouse being toyed with by a cat. Your skin tingled as a cold wave rushed through your body. Trying to keep the flustered feeling out of your voice, you attempted to redirect his focus by looking down at the fedora again. “Are you going to pick that up?” 

Floyd’s eyes widened comically. “Ah, thank you. Jade would have been soooo angry if he had seen that.” Belying his words, his tone was back to playful while he picked up the hat with more grace than you expected him to use. After a quick dusting off of whatever was on magical-castle-turned-to-school floors, he put it on his head with a toothy smile that reached up to his eyes. You felt the corners of your mouth twitch up.

 _Is he waiting for Jade? Or was that in general. Maybe I’m overthinking things._ One thing was certain, though, and that was that the situation was defused. Floyd wasn’t radiating any harmful intentions. The immediate threat was gone and he probably hadn’t seen your unique magic. Tension drained from your body, leaving stiff muscles and joints in its wake. Subconsciously, you started small stretches to relieve the pains, rotating your hands and shoulders until you noticed his eyes following your small movements.

“Maybe you’re more like an eel.”

“Come again?”

“You’re slippery. Twitchy. Wavy?” He made a vague hand movement that could mean anything from pointing out your attempts at relieving the stiffness in your joints to him simply wanting to make a big hand gesture.

“In case you failed to notice, I’m a panther,” you said, pointing to the two black ears on top of your head. He completely ignored you.

“I think I’ll call you Eely.” 

Your nose twitched. _Yeah, no._ “I do have a name, you know.”

“Sure you do, Eely.” The toothy grin hadn’t disappeared from Floyd’s face. If anything, it had increased in emotion.

Before you could voice your dislike, your ears twitched at the sound of footsteps approaching. Tension flowed back through your body as all your muscles tense up.

“What’s wrong, Eely?”

 _He can’t hear them yet._ “So, expecting someone?” You tried to play it safe, not clueing Floyd in on what you’re hearing. When Floyd’s eyes moved from your face to the top of your head you realized you had failed to stop your ears from twitching and thus given away your advantage. His face lit up like magic explosions during a summer festival.

“So he’s coming! Good, good!” You raised an eyebrow as Floyd started clapping his hands in excitement. Suddenly, his odd-eyed gaze moved back to yours, making a near palpably strong eye contact. “You’re fun, Eely. Let’s play sometime.” The words froze you to the bone, but Floyd kept talking. “So you should go now before he sees you. This will be. Our. Little. Secret. Mmm’kay?”

The footsteps had come close enough that even with the echo of the empty halls you managed to pinpoint they were coming from the corridor upstairs. You’d have a few more seconds before they would arrive at the top of the stairs.

“One question...”

“Hmmm~?”

“How did you know I was there?”

Floyd looked at you strangely, peering into your eyes as if observing a curious creature he hasn’t seen before. A bright smile stretches over his features. “I didn’t.”

The footsteps stopped.

You bolted.

\---

“My, my, dear brother, whoever was that.”

“Just a little eel who slithered in. It’s fine. More importantly, I’m boooored. Can we do something fun already?”

“So impatient...”

You listened to the voices trailing away as the two men climbed the stairs and went down the upper floor’s hallway. It was a shame you couldn’t listen in on the two brothers from the corridor you’d ducked into to hide. There was no way you could follow them. Your magic reserves were too drained and your body hurt from the tension you had put it through. Nonetheless, it was clear that Jade and Floyd were up to something.

You had some reporting to do to Leona.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As stated, the reader's gender is not specified (though I am wondering how many men and non-binary people will be reading this).  
> However, this may prove a little troublesome later on. Let's see how far we get.  
> I am taking some liberties by making the reader a student, as the Night Raven College is officially a boy's school only and 'there is no way a girl would enter under normal circumstances'. Though frankly, not even the game seems to be caring too much about those logical details...
> 
> Anyway, for female readers there are some special circumstances and magic that allowed for you to join.


	2. Attracting Attention (pt.1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Having made your presence known to your target, you were half expecting to be taken off the shadowing mission. Which would suit you perfectly fine, to be honest. Life would return to normal. Right? Yeah, about that...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally this chapter was longer, but I felt the need to split it into two parts.  
> On the one hand, that forced me to rewrite some parts (and I'm currently not entirely happy with those). On the other hand, it means I'll be posting chapter three shortly.

“So Floyd and Jade were meeting in an empty part of the castle on a day off. How spectacular. Anything else?” Leona sounded unimpressed, though you weren't sure if it was with you or your results.

After your run in with Floyd, you had gone in search of the Savanaclaw dorm leader immediately. You’d found Leona lying on a grassy patch in the botanical gardens. Leona had listened to your report, repeated it for clarity’s sake and was now glancing at you through half lidded eyes. It amazed you that even from his current position he managed to stare you down.

“Well...” you started, as you scratched behind your right ear, “Floyd was wearing his work outfit, which seemed strange. Oh, and he was told to keep a low profile...”

“He was told to… By Azul, no doubt.” Leona looked up at the sky, a calculating look on his face. He didn’t need your confirmation but you nodded anyway. A chill ran down your back when Leona, still facing the sky, moved only his emerald gaze in your direction. “And how, may I ask, did you learn that?”

Your back started to itch but, refusing to show weakness, you forced yourself to hold Leona’s gaze. “He told me.”

“What were you doing with that eel? Having a tea party or something?”

“He lured me out. I evaded him. That’s when he told me,” you finished with a grimace.

“He saw you,” Leona deadpanned. This time you did look away from the lion’s gaze. “I told you to shadow him and you show yourself.” The lion pushed himself up, before slowly walking up to you. “What do you have to say for yourself, huh?”

You stood your ground, but held your tongue. You were not going to apologize when you had technically done what was asked of you. On the other hand, giving the lion a piece of your mind would probably end up very badly. If not now, then during the next Magical Shift battle. Being at the receiving end of Leona’s magic was in your top five of least favorite school activities.

Reflexively tapping into your magic reserves told you that, yes, they were still nearly completely depleted.

Seconds ticked away while green eyes bore down into yours. Finally, Leona heaved a sigh. “Nothing. I see...” The lion turned his back to you as he went back to his grassy patch to lay back down. Apparently he wasn’t as angry as he’d made himself appear to be or he wouldn’t have dropped the topic so quickly otherwise. “Well,” he continued as he closed his eyes, “at least this wasn’t a complete waste of time. Even when he’ll tell Azul about you-”

 _This will be our little secret._ Floyd’s words echoed in your mind as a bitter taste spread through your mouth.

“-we’ve got something to bring to the table.”

“So, I can stop this...” _farce_ , “mission? We have enough to get the ramshackle dorm’s head off our backs?” There was no response. A careful look showed Leona’s eyes were still closed and for a moment you feared he had fallen asleep.

“Not just yet. Tell me what you think.”

 _That I want to finish this debriefing so that I can get back to normal life._ You shook your head. “About what, specifically?”

“What do you think we know about that squiddy bastard.”

“Well,” you tried to find the words that would deliver freedom to your doorstep, while still showing your discontent. “Something’s up. The what, however, I don’t know or care about.” You directed your full attention to the still lazily relaxing lion in front of you. “And I really don’t know why you care. Since when does Savanaclaw do freebies anyway?”

“We don’t. I’m repaying a favor.” One eye opened lazily, glancing in your direction. “Your work will relieve me of a debt.”

“Hmmm… I guess you’re welcome, then.” Bitterness had crept in your tone before you could stop yourself. Last time you checked, Ruggie was Leona’s servant. And that was perfectly fine with you. You didn’t enjoy doing work without getting anything other than the attention of the ‘mighty’ second prince.

An angry growl filled the clearing, effectively refocusing your attention. “Oh no, you don’t. We’re not done yet.”

“So the mission continues,” you sighed, shaking your head at the lion. “Ok, I’ll bite. Shoot.”

“That’s more like it. Go and shadow the three of them for the next week. Pay extra close attention to anything related to the Grand Ball. And do make sure they don’t see you this time around, will you?”

You rolled your eyes at the jab. “Why the Grand Ball?”

“It’s simple.” Leona put up his right hand and started drawing invisible scribbles in the air. “Azul is planning something. He’ll want to aim for something big and the only big things coming up in the next few weeks are Crowley’s birthday, Heartslaybul’s Unbirthday, the Grand Ball and… something online for the Ignihyde dorm. Of these, only Crowley’s birthday and the Grand Ball will affect the entire student population, and only the Grand Ball allows something Azul can make a profit off with enough loopholes so as not to incur the principal’s wrath.”

“Hmm, sure. Okay, I got it. Can I go now?” That was a longer explanation than you had hoped for and your head had started to hurt again. Right now, you were wishing very strongly you’d first dropped by the infirmary to get a magic replenishing potion before trying to find Leona for the debriefing.

Leona waved vaguely in the direction of the garden’s exit, before he draped his arm over his chest. Within seconds you heard his breathing change indicating the lion was sound asleep. _What a talent. Oh well, let’s get that magic replenishing potion._

Even with the help of the potion you needed the rest of the day to recover. The nurse at the infirmary had pointed out there were some dark specks in your magic crystal, so you’d best not use your magic for a while.

In hopes of fixing your magic balance by training your body, you had gone out to get in some exercise, only to find out that any form of physical strain ended in some sort of headache. Finally, after your third try at running around the castle ended up with your head feeling like baby bats had nested in it and were trying to get out, you decided to call it a day and retreated to your room to sleep the rest of the day away.

\---

The next morning your joints cracked and your muscles were screaming in protest, still feeling the effects of the magic loss of the previous day.

A quick glance at your magic crystal showed some clouding that could be either in the crystal or a trick of the light. “Huh,” you sighed curiously. Just to be safe, you decided you wouldn’t use your magic for intelligence gathering today, but take the old fashioned approach of keeping your eyes and ears open. You had class from ten till five, so there was frankly very little else you could do but rely on traditional methods. You just hoped it would be enough.

Pushing your worries to the back of your mind, you tried to think of something to reset yourself. Maybe running around the school, or at least the running track, would make you feel better.

Exactly 30 minutes later you were in your training gear, running around said running track. It was still early; at least an hour before any of the morning classes would start - and the track was deserted. That suited you just fine. 

Your body quickly established a nice and easy running rhythm, and you felt your mind calm down. While not bad at academics, you preferred to move your body. It didn’t take long to achieve a trance-like state where there was nothing but you, the dusty track and your muscles pushing you forward.

When you were finally ready to leave the track your muscles were aching pleasantly and you felt mentally energized and happy. Not slowing your pace, you ran from the track directly to the clearing at the exit, nearly running into someone standing awkwardly in the passageway. You barely managed to evade the person by ducking to his right and dodge-rolling yourself to a stop. It was only after you turned to face the man, and got a whiff of the wolfish scent, did you recognize the silver haired wolf as one of the Savanaclaw’s first years. A somewhat bashful youth who had made a reputation for being able to outrun many second and third year Savanaclaw students. But for the love of you, you couldn’t remember his name.

Trying the ‘good-natured senior student’-approach you grinned your apology at him. “Sorry ‘bout that. Didn’t expect anyone to be there.”

The wolf didn’t make eye contact, but grumbled something under his breath.

“Sorry?”

“I said,” his gaze narrowed on you, his tone gruff but lacking anger, “no need to apologize.” You appraised him silently, waiting for him to continue. A second later he added, “I shouldn’t have been standing there. It’s just...” He fell quiet again, his eyes focused on a puddle near his feet. Seconds ticked by but he gave no indication he wanted to finish that sentence.

“You didn’t want to intrude?” You surveyed the youth. The wolf looked a little self aware of his position as a first year talking to a second year.

“Something like that.” His eyes refused to land on you, instead roaming over anything and everything _but_ you in the small clearing. Maybe you needed to break the ice? You suddenly got an idea.

“Say, you’re a pretty good runner, right? Shall we train together next time? I could use a running partner.”

You grinned when the youth finally looked at you, surprise written all over his features. “That’s not...” His eyes darted around again, before he shook his head. “Yeah, sure. I’d love to.”

Ignoring the awkwardness in the air, you decided to just go with the flow. “Great! Next time, just run up to me, ehm...”

“Jack.”

You nodded and repeated his name, before introducing yourself.

Jack nodded in response. "See you around." You watched him turn to the track and jog off as a giddy feeling welled up at the thought of training with one of the dorm’s better runners.

Preparing to leave the track behind you, you took a deep breath. And frowned when your nose picked up the smells in the air. _Jack must have been standing here for quite some time for his scent to linger this strongly._ And there was something else in the air you were sure you’d smelled before…

You took another breath, trying to catch the lingering scent. The smell of fresh sweat was too overpowering to identify anything else. You dropped your head in defeat.

A drop of sweat rolled from your forehead over the tip of your nose, before dripping to the sand below.

Time to head back and clean yourself up before the first class of the day.

That evening you felt completely drained when you dragged yourself to bed. While the day had been busy, it hadn’t been very rewarding. Classes had been pretty uneventful, and you hadn’t picked up any interesting gossip when walking around the castle outside class. You had, however, felt Ruggie’s gaze on you throughout the day. During some of the shared classes. At lunch. During dinner. The feeling of being watched frazzled your mind.

You really wished you could’ve told him to stop, but knowing the hyena, he had orders from Leona to keep an eye on you.

As you drew your covers over your head, you told yourself there was no need to rush things. Just one week of vigilance and it would all be over.


	3. Attracting Attention (pt.2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alchemy wasn’t exactly your strong suit, but you managed if it simply meant following the instructions. Too bad your partner thinks instructions are boring.

Today would be a good day, you decided.

This morning you had woken to a sunbeam pleasantly warming your body and your head feeling as if a mental fog had been lifted. Moreover, your magic crystal was completely free of any clouding.

Your face lit up when you quickly scanned through today’s schedule. After lunch there would be a special alchemy class mixing students from multiple second year classes. It could be a chance to observe all three of your targets without overexerting your magic capabilities. If everything worked out, you would then be able to use your magic to gather intelligence at a later time. A plan was slowly forming in your head.

In high spirits, you prepared for the day ahead.

Divus Crewel, the designated alchemy teacher, always struck you as a special character. As he stood in front of the group of second years you once again wondered why he was wearing the black and white fur coat - over a full suit no less - in a room with at least two dozen cauldrons happily boiling over red and blue flames.

“Today we’ll be making fire in a bottle,” he announced happily. The students’ collective groan was cut short by Crewel’s angry “bad pups!” before class could properly continue.

Listening with half an ear to Crewel explaining the history of the project you’d be working on, you gazed around to check which second years had been summoned for today’s class. To your surprise you only saw Savanaclaw and Octavinelle students, with no other dorms being present. That was new.

On the left side of the room, farthest away from Crewel, you spotted Leona’s number one lackey Ruggie. More accurately speaking, you heard him before you saw him. He was laughing a little too loudly with a few of the other hyenas, effectively managing to incur the teacher’s wrath. Close to them, some other Savanaclaws were huddling together. One of the tigers was pointing at an interestingly shaped ingredient, inviting some of the students to put their noses closer to it. Judging by their faces, the smell wasn’t that pleasant.

Ignoring the bunch, you looked over at the group of Octavinelle students on the other side of the room. You immediately spotted the backs of all three of Octavinelle’s top at the front of the group, Jade and Floyd standing out due to their height. You glanced over the other students. Most were actively listening to Crewel, some even taking notes. Quite different from the Savanaclaw students.

A loud snap of a dog whip hitting wood made you visibly jump, the student standing next to you glancing in your direction. Crewel had finished his explanations. “Pair up now, pups. We haven’t got all day.”

Ignoring the people around you, you quickly scanned the room for Azul. As long as you found a cauldron close enough to Azul to observe him, all would work out. Alchemy always was taught to an even number of students, so even when you didn’t look for a partner, at one point one would find you. Or at least you hoped they would.

The first part of your plan went rather smoothly. Azul and Jade had moved to a cauldron close to the back of the classroom rather quickly. It was easy for you to find an unoccupied cauldron close enough to theirs to be able to hear their conversations, while at the same time retaining the distance to not draw their attention.

The second part did not go down so well. You were alone and everyone else had already partnered up. Which couldn’t be right. There should be an even number of students, so why?

“Place! Mister Leech, find a partner and begin!”

“...”

There was a commotion at the front of the room, attracting the attention of the rest of the class. It seemed conflict was a lot more interesting than the assignment.

“Oh my, he’s in one of his moods again,” a deep and soft spoken voice reached your ears. You turned your head to the sound to see Jade and Azul looking in Crewel’s direction. When you followed their gaze, your eyes locked with Floyd’s. No, not locked. The gold and olive orbs seemed empty, unfocused, giving off the impression he was looking through you rather than at you. But with how fat in the back you were, you couldn’t be sure. The only thing that was 100% certain was that he wasn’t paying an ounce of attention to Crewel. “Happening rather frequently these past few days. Is it because of...” You couldn’t pick up the rest of the hushed conversation due to Crewel’s loud voice.

“There is one student free in the back. You’ll be working together. Go. Good pups get rewards.”

“Rewards?”

“Yes. Go.” Crewel's authoritative tone seemed to close the (one sided) debate for now.

That was when you realized you were the only free student Crewel had spoken of.

As Floyd made his way over to your cauldron, his face blank in a way that suggested his mind was somewhere else, you felt a dozen pairs of eyes settling on your person. So much for not drawing attention.

You hoped that at least Azul and Jade were not looking your way. If they were, this would be the last time you'd try to spy on them during class.

 _Well, best get this over with._ You directed your left ear in the direction of Azul, but only picked up something about Jade having to prevent the cauldron heating up too quickly. Their talk was not about you. Relief quickly mixed with annoyance. While their topic of conversation wasn't you, it also wasn’t about anything you wanted to hear.

Meanwhile, Floyd had reached your workbench without sparing you a look or a word. You glanced at the parchment in front of you. Just to get this show on the road, you decided to read the text out loud.

_“To keep fire in a glasse, that whilest the glasse is shut will not burne, but as soone as it is opened will be inflamed. First extract the burning spirit of the salt of tin in a glasse Retort well coated...”_

“Oh pixies...” You groaned. This was not going well. Forget listening in on Azul if you couldn’t even finish your assignment. “Do you understand what this says?” Pointing at the offending piece of parchment you looked over at Floyd. Or, more exactly, down at Floyd. For some reason he was sitting on the floor, busy staring into the flames underneath the cauldron.

“Sure,” Floyd shruged. “Azul uses that kind of language from time to time in his contracts.”

“You’re kidding.”

“Nope.”

“So you can follow these instructions?”

“Yup.” Hope welled up in your chest, before it was crushed into a thousand pieces. “But don’t you think it’s boring? Just do as it says and you’ll get the results specified. No spark. Nothing new. Just. Ugh.” All the while he kept his gaze on the flames trapped underneath the metal pot.

“Spark?” You raised your eyebrows. He wanted something… different? You looked over at the parchment, then back at Floyd, before following his gaze to the flames. Warmth. Cold. Metals. Spark.

“Why not try both?” You mumbled as you looked over the ingredients Crewel had neatly laid out on the workbench. You scanned the items before landing on a white-ish metal.

An old memory welled up. A happier time. No, that wasn't relevant. It had been a family meeting. Yes. You remembered a distant relative working in the tin mines showing you a little trick he had picked up. Remembered your wonder. A slow corrosion.

It wasn't anything expressive, but it might do the trick.

Using your wand, you split the metal into two and held up one of the pieces to the light. A quick and quiet spell allowed you to keep the piece suspended in the air before you floated it close to Floyd. “Floyd?”

“...”

“I want to try something. Look.”

“...”

You wouldn't even be able to try anything if he wasn't looking. _Damnit, look!_

It seemed your mental plea had reached Floyd. His golden eye lazily moved and finally rested on the piece of metal. “The instructions say to get the spirit. I think we need to heat it? But what if we cool it instead?” With another quiet spell you encapsulated the metal in a ball of cold air, dropping the temperature around the piece to about zero degrees Celsius.

If you had messed up, had misremembered the trick or the metal, you'd get nowhere. It was crucial to get Floyd interested. Now if only your chest didn't feel so tight. Why wasn't anything happening? You glanced at your alchemy partner, waiting for his expression to change. For something to happen.

Nothing did.

With a heaviness in your heart, you prepared to lift the spell until a small sound of wonder stopped you. Floyd’s gaze was drawn to one of the metal’s edges.

The metal was changing color.

Relief flooded you when you saw Floyd’s attention had fully turned to the rapidly changing substance. The white chunk of metal looked like it was turning to grey dust, and going by Floyd’s face it was one of the more curious things he had seen in a while.

With a childlike curiosity Floyd poked at the little ball of cold air, coating his fingertips in little grey flakes. Slowly, you weakened the floating spell, allowing the particles to drift to the ground in a curtain of grey. 

“Pretty...”

 _Not the word I’d describe for this dusty stuff, but whatever works._ A few seconds later the metal had fully transformed. Together with the metal’s transformation the look in Floyd’s eyes had changed from distant to curious. He was still playing with the metal flakes, picking them up from the ground, coating his fingers in the stuff. You crouched down to observe his fascination with the tin particles, a thin curtain of dust still between you, when suddenly his eyes moved focused directly on you.

“Ah, Eely!”

 _No._ “Yes?”

“That was fun.” Not waiting for a response, Floyd got up and walked over to the instructions. “Now it’s my turn!”

The rest of class was a blur to you, but it somehow resulted in three closed bottles on your workbench. Mentally you were still processing how those had gotten there when Crewel looked them over and complimented the two of you on a job well done. Apparently, Floyd had even tweaked the instructions to change the color of the fire when the bottle was opened. 

In the back of your mind, a voice reminded you of the mission. Reminded you that you hadn’t given a second of thought to Azul or Jade or whatever they had been saying and doing during class.

You didn’t care.

When the class ended and Floyd waved his goodbyes, your mind was still whirling.

You didn’t register Jade’s fleeting glance as he left the classroom.

You didn’t notice Ruggie’s disapproving look as he approached.

You did feel the harsh shove as Ruggie passed you by, hissing “follow them.”

The words shook you out of your trance.

You knew what you had to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The alchemy text comes from John French, _The Art of Distillation_ , London 1651.  
> "Salt of Tin" is Tin (II) Chloride (SnCl2). So Salt of Tin has little to do with white tin, but let’s ignore that.  
> While not magic, I found on the net that white tin changes to a grey-ish powder if it reaches temperatures below 15 degrees Celsius. The more you know...
> 
> In other notes, I'm not entirely happy with the writing of the past few chapters, but will leave it as it is for the moment.  
> For now I'll prioritize moving the story forward, and will go back to work our the kinks in the writing once I've managed to distance myself a little from the piece.  
> Chapter four (draft title "Rumors") should be sometime in the next week or two.


	4. Rumors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You pick up some interesting rumors, raising your chances of getting your normal life back within the week. Too bad that the world where you were a faceless nobody to Floyd didn’t exist anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took a little longer than planned to post this part.  
> Next chapter hasn't been written yet - so no guarantees about posting dates - but I know where I want to go with this and the plan still works with all the characters and settings of the original game (luckily for me). Yay!
> 
> Comments / Feedback are all very welcome.  
> Thanks to all who left kudos and comments. It really drives me to know you are enjoying this piece ^_^

Alchemy had been the last class for the day, which left you with plenty of time to try your hand at shadowing again. The sooner you discovered what Leona wanted to know, the sooner your time would be your own again.

You hurried from the classroom into a darkened alcove. After establishing no one was around you activated your magic by sighing ‘shrouded shadow’ and stepping into the darkness. Now you needed to be quick. After the fiasco the day before, you really didn’t want to be caught out using your magic for too long.

Shadowy hallways passed you by as you rushed after the retreating students. Azul would probably be your best bet at finding some information, so you decided to look for the tall figures of the twins who would be accompanying him. Except you didn’t see either of them, even when you did find Azul’s neatly styled silver locks. Curious.

Slowing down, you finally started to pay proper attention to your surroundings. The throng of students had hardly diminished and it took you only a second to figure out why. This hallway led to the chamber of mirrors - the portal to the other realms. If Azul was going back to the sea dorm it would cut your adventure short. All travels between realms were strictly monitored. And even if you managed to get in without raising suspicions you feared Azul would have no trouble finding out you were running around the sea realm, even if you would be practically invisible to him.

Your fears were confirmed when you followed Azul into the chamber of mirrors. Azul confidently walked towards the Octavinelle mirror and, after glancing behind him, stepped through to the water realm. He was closely followed by some of the other Octavinelle students.

“Have you heard? This year’s Grand Ball will be with the Blood Rose College.” To your left, two students with the Octavinelle’s badge passed your hiding spot. One of them had pink and orange two-tone hair that made you do a double take. You hadn’t seen them before, but from the looks of it they were probably first years. The two stopped a few meters from the mirror, speaking a tad more loudly than strictly necessary.

“Blood Rose? Isn’t that where Trein’s nieces are going to school?”

“Dunno, but it would explain something. Heard Trein was in the Ball’s committee this year.”

“Think we’ll get lucky?”

“Oh, we will. Azul will take care of that.” The man grinned, though from your perspective it felt unnatural. He didn’t seem to be looking at his conversation partner, but at the students behind them. It only lasted a second, before the two-toned kid turned away, obscuring his face. The next moment both students stepped through the mirror, leaving behind only their final words quickly sweeping through the room.

“Blood Rose? For real?”

“What does Azul know?”

“We can’t let those Octavinelle bastards one-up us!”

The students were getting pretty riled up. Not surprising considering the Blood Rose college was pretty prestigious. You’d heard stories that the school was basically comparable to the Diasomnia dorm - all high class girls with pretty special magic and influential parents. Getting a favorable match would guarantee good future prospects.

Backtracking, you headed for the courtyard, making sure to deactivate your magic in one of the darker corridors along the way. Questions floated through your mind. Had Leona been right about the Ball? Was this really the new scheme? What could Azul do that involved another school and not incur anyone’s wrath? How did this fit with Floyd having to keep low?

Even the sunny weather and the surprisingly strong breeze couldn’t lift your spirits when you stepped outside. You really didn’t want to waste any time moving into a deadend by focusing on a dud. Some things just weren’t adding up properly to you. And where were the two brothers? Your eyes scanned the clearing, spotting many people, but no familiar faces.

“Oh dear, what do we have here,” a voice spoke directly into your left ear.

“Looking for someone,” another voice added into your right ear, as if to balance out the first.

Think of the devil. How had you missed them?

“Nnnyes. Ruggie.” Internally, you were wondering just  _ why you had lied _ as much as  _ why you hadn’t thought of a better lie _ .

With their presence made known, it was very hard not to be aware of the two figures looming over you from behind. Not wanting to give them the satisfaction, you refused to turn around to face them, instead glancing over your shoulder at Floyd only.

He was closer than you thought, grin sharp, eyes sparkling. Unconsciously you took a step back, right into Jade. You jumped away from you as if burned, but didn’t miss the second something crossed through Floyd’s features, too fast for you to properly identify. The next moment he was all fun and grins again.

Jade bowed down to whisper in your ear, “but didn’t you see him in class just now?”

_ Yes, that’s why I thought of his name. _ “Thought he might be here.” You refused to move your gaze from Floyd. It felt as if something bad would happen if you did. Floyd grinned even more broadly in return. The feeling of Jade stepping closer to your back, intentionally crowding you, gave rise to a panicky feeling. “But I guess he’s not here.”  _ Gotta go now. Bye!  _ You swallowed down the words threatening to spill, instead opting to casually turn away from the twins, indicating the conversation was over.

A hand on your shoulder stopped you in your tracks.

“Let’s go look for him, then. You’ve been  _ so  _ kind to Floyd during class, we  _ must  _ repay the favor.” There was no need to see his face. Jade’s grin was audible and you had the distinct feeling it was a lot colder than the one his twin was sporting. Both were cold enough to rob you of the sun’s warmth, only allowing the cool breeze to touch your skin.

A voice calling your name from the middle of the courtyard broke the moment. “Oi! Where were you? I thought we’d train!”

_ Huh? _

Jack skidded to a stop in front of you, narrowly missing the twins. “Sorry ‘bout that.” His momentum forced Jade to take a step back, effectively forcing the eel to remove his hand from your shoulder. 

“It’s fine.” It was very clear it had been anything but fine.

“So, what kept you,” Jack asked, pretending as if he hadn’t just arrived at an awfully convenient moment to interrupt an awfully sticky situation.

“Ehm...” The narrowed looks the twins were sending Jack made you decide it was probably best to play along quickly, lest Jack would go up in flames by the intensity of their gazes. “Ruggie. I was looking for him.”

“Ruggie?” Jack scratched his neck, before responding. “I think I saw him heading for the dorm.”

“Thanks! Then I’d best go find him.” You turned to the twins, trying to look apologetic. “That settles it, then. Thanks for offering your help, though!” Moving your gaze back to Jack a little too quickly to appear casual, you offered him to tag along so the two of you could train afterwards. His casual agreement was by far one of the best things you’d heard the entire day.

As the two of you left the courtyard behind, you felt two pairs of eyes burn a gaping hole in the back of your head all the way.

Jack had silently accompanied you to the dorm’s common room before he addressed the question that was burning on the tip of his tongue. “So, what was that all about?”

“I honestly haven’t got a clue, but I’m glad you showed up when you did.”

“Hard to not jump in,” Jack replied, scrunching his nose. “You were sending out a pretty strong distress signal.”

Your eyebrows shot up. “I was?”  _ Did the twins notice as well? The entire courtyard? _

“Yeah. Can’t fool this nose.” A good-natured grin spread over his face. “Though it took me a moment to recognize your scent. If the wind hadn’t carried it, I might have missed it.” He shrugged.

You were about to comment on the statement when a student coming out of the hallway to your right cut you off, moving down the hall in front of you without so much as a glance in your direction. It took you a second to recognize the roundish ears sticking out of unkempt sandy brown hair. “Ruggie?”

The hyena turned to face you, eyes wide. “Back already?”

You quickly told him the gist of what had happened and what you heard. “I think they suspect something so I’ll need to lay low for a bit.”

“Heh, I’ll talk to Leona. Best you go out for that run then, huh?”

Your brow twitched at his tone. “I planned on it,” you bit back, before parting ways.

A few hours later, you were laying on your back next to the running track, enjoying the view of the sky slowly turning various hues of orange, while Jack put in another round. You had to give it to him. You could easily keep up with him in the speed category, but his stamina was something else.

Jack had passed you two times, three times, and you still didn’t feel like going back to the track. You were revitalized, if not a little tired, but felt you’d had enough excitement for the day. A few more times did the wolf pass by you, before finally a long shadow fell over your form. You shifted your focus from the sky to the young wolf.

“All run out?” You said, grinning. The wolf wasn’t even out of breath.  _ Show off. _ You might have to schedule some extra training sessions to get to his level. Maybe. In a day or two. When the ground wasn’t as comfortable.

Maybe you were more tired than you’d care to admit.

“For today, yeah. I think I’ll be jogging tomorrow morning before class.”

Recognizing the invitation, you smiled. “I might join, but don’t wait up.”

“Sure. See you around, then.” His tone was flat.

It surprised you how much that bothered you.

Not wanting to end the day on a low note, you called out to him before the wolf could turn away. “Thanks for today. I mean it.” You squeezed your eyes in kindness. A cat-like gesture, but you hoped it conveyed properly to the wolf. “Let’s train again soon.”

Slowly, the corners of Jack’s mouth turned upwards. “Yeah.” Suddenly his casual stance stiffened. Even from where you were lying you could see his nose scrunched up. Something flashed behind his eyes before an emotion similar to resignation seemed to set in. “Don’t stay out here too long, okay?”

You nodded slowly before verbally confirming when you saw he wasn’t looking at you anymore. “I won’t.”

A curt nod was all you got in return before the wolf walked away with unsure steps. You sat up, watching him go, wondering what that was all about. He didn’t turn around once.

Even well after he had left the track, nothing seemed to pop out of the shadows. A tranquil peace set around you and you finally lay back down to enjoy the final minutes of the setting sun. The clouds were tinged in orange and pink and a soft breeze picked up. The smell of warm sand at the end of a sunny day summoned pleasant memories. In your mind’s eye you saw a different sunset in front of you, bringing warmth to your heart and wetness to your eyes.

Vaguely you wondered if the smell of the sea in your nose was part of your memory or not. It could be.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?”

You sprang to your feet, quickly wiping at your eyes.

“Oh, so jumpy~”

You sighed. At least he sounded happy enough. After making sure your eyes were completely dry, you looked over at Floyd, your eyes scanning the area around him for his other half.

“If you’re looking for Jade, he’s back at the dorm. More importantly, did you find the little remora?”

“Remora? You mean Ruggie? Ah, yeah, found him.” Floyd was awfully close to you, well into your personal space. You took a step back. He didn’t follow.

“So~,” Floyd fluidly bent forward from the hip, forcing you to take another step back. “What did you tell him about us?”

“Huh?”

“Jade heard him.”

“Heard him? What?” Flustered you tried to figure out what Floyd was on about. Your mind wasn’t helping though, still stuck on your training with Jack and the memory of the sunset.

“Today, after class.” Floyd looked utterly uninterested in the details he was telling you. Instead, he seemed to be more focused on your reaction to him, moving his body left and right as if trying to catch your expression from all angles. The movement reminded you vaguely of an eel swimming around you, trying to get a good view of his prey.

“Ah, eh?” The second your mind offered the proper memory, your blood ran cold. ‘ _ Follow them.’ Jade heard? _ You opened your mouth, but closed it again as words escaped you. You repeated the motion a few times, not sure what to say.

He grinned. “You look like a fish out of water, Eely...”

You felt your face go blank.  _ At least someone finds it funny. _ Finally deciding on a course of action, you tried again. “Is it okay for you to tell me that?”

“What? Oh yeah. Jade won’t like it, but he’s not here.” Floyd shrugs casually, “besides, there was nothing for you to tell. You couldn’t follow us.”

You fought the urge to ask him to explain, but decided to let the comment slide. Even if you asked, you doubted he’d tell you what he meant. Worse, it would probably only give the twins even more reason to be suspicious of you .

Besides, Floyd seemed to have tired of the topic already. He was twisting the heel of his right foot into the sand beneath him. “Say, Eely, did you have a nice run?”

_ Okay, here we go. _ You nodded. “Yeah, it was nice.”

“Running is so interesting. A little hard though, keeping balance on two legs.”

“Oh?”

“First time I had legs I couldn’t even walk without falling.”

Right. Eel in human body. “Must’ve been hard.”

“It was.” He was smiling openly, eyes distant, as if remembering a fond memory. The corners of your mouth twitched up. “You look quite fast, though.”

“Uh huh.”

“Wanna race me?”

“Sur- what?”

“Wanna race me? If I win…” Floyd put his hand to his chin, as if thinking very hard. “Ah. If I win, you’ll get me some peppermint candy.”

You rolled your eyes, grinning broadly at the ridiculousness of the situation. This fish just told you there had been a time he couldn’t even walk on two legs and now he was challenging someone who was naturally inclined to speed to a race. “And if I win?”

The other’s face lit up, eyes kind and a broad smile on his lips. It was a good look on him, you decided. Even with all the pointy teeth showing.

“Then you’ll get a peppermint candy from me,” he said as if it was obvious.

You laughed. “You’re on!”

“Great! Then… Hmmm~ Whoever is first at the tree on the other side of the field wins!” He pointed over at a lone tree, commonly used for tree climbing practice, about 150 meters from your current position. The shortest path would be straight through the center of the running track, which was uneven terrain with various hurdles. It wouldn’t be merely straight-on-full-out, but a little swerving here and there, making it not simply a test of raw speed. Maybe the eel had thought this match through after all.

_ You’ll still lose. _

“And... Go!” The teal haired youth suddenly announced, before dashing off.

Your eyes opened wide and instinctively you yelled a “hey!” as you dashed after him.

Because of the false start you managed to get a pretty good look at Floyd running in front of you.  _ He’s fast. _ Even when you were catching up to him, it surprised you how fast and agile Floyd moved. He was jumping over obstacles as if it was nothing, properly finding footing on the uneven ground and propelling himself forward with a speed and technique you hadn’t seen before.

If he was capable of this kind of athletics, why was he nearly failing PE?

The tree was getting closer. Just a little bit more.

You pushed yourself forward, connecting your consciousness with the earth beneath your feet, summoning your inner beast to quickly overtake your opponent.

Due to your speed, you overshot your target by several meters, having to backtrack to the youth currently standing bent over near the tree, breathing hard. As you came closer, you recognized the sounds he was making not as simple labored breathing. He was laughing. Utterly out of breath, but laughing with a mirth you hardly heard from someone who had just lost a match.

For a second you forgot your anger.

Then you remembered the false start. “You slippery eel! You cheated!”

“And you still won,” came the reply. Naturally. Airily. Breathlessly.

Your mind pulled away the associations it conjured.  _ Of course he’s out of breath. He’s a fish on land, _ you mentally snarked. You turned away, not sure if you could truly hold on to your anger. You ignored everything around you, even when a rustling sound entered your ears.

“So now for your prize.” A finger came underneath your chin, making you look up into the heterochromic eyes. “Aaahn.”

The taste of peppermint spreading through your mouth hit you before the realization that Floyd had pushed a piece of candy between your lips.

Before you even managed to process what had just happened, he had already turned around, giving a quick wave over his shoulder as he left. “Next time, I’ll win!”

Watching his figure grow smaller and smaller you sucked on the candy, releasing another burst of peppermint.  _ This thing is pretty tasty. Maybe I should get some of my own at Sam’s shop. _

In your minty haze, Floyd’s slouching posture seemed to be surrounded with an air of happiness. Just when he was about to walk off of the field, he turned around again, waved at you, and left you alone with your thoughts.

As the sun fully set behind you, a quote from a book you’d read a long time ago popped into your brain.

"Curiouser and curiouser."


End file.
